Tuesday, 14 October 2008

History of Bermondsey

Some reference found in : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BermondseyBermondsey is an area in London on the southern bank of river thames and is part of the London Borough of Southwark to the east, Rotherhithe and to the south walworth.
Bermondsey is known as Beornmund's island (Beornmund represents an old english personal name. The last 2 element of "ey" represents old english "eg" for island)
"A piece of firm land in a fen" or "A place by a tream or river".
The word "Bermondsey" earliest written name appeared in Domesday Book of 1086. It was written as "Bermundsey" and "Bermundeseye". The area was held and controlled by King William. Though small parts of the area was also controlled by his half brother Robert Court of Mortain and his younger brother odo of Boyeux.
The church mentioned in Domesday book, the founder of the Bermondsey abbey. The area was founded as a cluniac priory in 1082. and was dedicated to St Saviour.
Monks from the abbey began the development of the area, manufacturing the land and embanking the riverside. They turned the adjacent tidal in to a mouth of river neckinger into a Dock named St Saviour's Dock.Bermondsey then was little more than a hight street leading from the Southern bank of the Thames at Tooley Street, up the abbey close.
In the 14th century, King Edward III built a manor house lose to the Thames un Bermondsey in 1353.
As it developed over the countries, Bermondsey had some changes, after the great fire of London. It was settled along the lines of Grange Road as Bermondsey street became more urbanised and of Jamaica /Lower Road.
Not many buildings survived the great fire except for the church of St Mary Magdalen on Bermondsey Street. The church got redeveloped.
In the 18th century, the area became a spa leisure resort. A new church was built for the growing populatio of the area and named St John Horsley down. The population of Bermondsey parish increased enormously in the 19th century. In 1831 it was 29,741, in 1901 81,323. This must have been due in part to the erection of many-storied tenement houses. The most important modern thoroughfare is Tower Bridge Road, which leads towards TowerBridge from the junction of Bermondsey Street and Grange Road.
The modern town contains in the streets near the Thames a riverside population of the usual description. Its leather trade is still important and is centred in the Leather Market, Bermondsey Street and Tanner Street. For the rest it is a district of poor dwellings and retail shops.

Reference found in :http://www.infed.org/socialaction/charles_booth_jacobs_island.htm

The area around St Saviour's Dock, known as Jacob's island was one of the worst places to be in London.
Jacob's Island was a setting for scenes in Oliver Twist. Dickens described it as 'the filthiest, the strangest, the most extraordinary of the many localities that are hidden in London'. The worst housing on Jacob's Island was cleared in the nineteenth century to make way for warehouses.
A key element of the research was a series of maps coloured street by street to indicate the levels of poverty and wealth. The map for this area in 1898-9 shows a concentration of 'very poor' households in chronic want (often employed as casual labourers) and 'poor' households (existing on between 18s and 21s 'for a moderate family').In 20th century new railways was built connecting Bermondsey with Greenwich. The line ran for 4 miles (6KM), From then on, Bermondsey formed part of the Metropolitan Borough of Bermondsey. To the east of Tower Bridge, Bermondsey were lined with warehouses and wharves of which is best known in Butler's Wharf.